Guests at Buffalo Ridge Safari Lodge had a surprise visit from an opportunistic elephant, who simply couldn’t resist the cool, crystal clear, swimming pool water on a hot spring day in Madikwe Game Reserve.
Photographed by 18 year old Tom Rudolphie of The Netherlands.
Buffalo Ridge is a community owned safari lodge in the beautiful Madikwe Game Reserve of northern South Africa, near the Botswana border. I love this area.
………aka Fawlty Towers.
You may wonder where does a spoilt Safari Tart go for her Christmas holidays? I needed a place to veg out, do absolutely nothing, get up late, read a lot and turn up for breakfast at 10.30am. I also wanted to feel like I belonged and be entertained a little. Sounds good doesn’t it? I found just the place - a real life Fawlty Towers complete with Basil and other crazy characters in the countryside near Cape Town.
I have been going on safari in Africa every year for 15 years, yet it was at Samara Private Game Reserve, in the middle of nowhere in the Graaff-Reinet Karoo, that I found two elements of a safari that had so far eluded me; a yoga mat and an aardvark.
A strange duo I agree, but a pairing that makes Samara a special safari venue in the absence of Africa’s really big game….. I regretted that line as soon as I wrote it, because it shows what a spoilt safari tart I have become!
You don’t find anything taller than giraffe, any stronger than rhino, any faster than cheetah, or any meaner than buffalo and Samara has them all, as well as antelopes and of course aardvark (which I will speak more of later).
I do like a bath that can fit two people. The big oval bath in the lagoon-side safari suite at Mosiac Farm could fit little ole me and my 6ft man. The only problem in running said bath, was that neither I nor Man, could reach both the spout and the taps at the same time. We had to run the bath in tandem, him on the taps, me on the spout (which you can see for yourself was not an elegant episode). 
And woe betide an ‘older’ person trying to get into this bath, which required straddling the equivalent of a carthorse. But once in, it was all worth it.
Brothers Safaris offers African safaris with a difference. Dr Peter Brothers is an African wildlife Vet and Registered Tourist Guide, who allows you the rare opportunity to enter his world.
His next safari immobilizes lions to monitor and treat them in the Amakhala Game Reserve, near Port Elizabeth. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime hands-on experience with lions that very few people are privileged to encounter. He involves you in the procedures carried out while the lion is
immobilized, like blood sampling or collaring. Or you can simply observe and monitor a wild lion while this giant pussy cat is fast asleep (hoping all the while that he doesn’t wake up)!
Amakhala Game Reserve have rhino (white + black), elephant, cheetah, buffalo, lion, giraffe, black wildebeest, zebra, tortoise and over 16 antelope species and this veterinary safari allows time for traditional game drives and learning more about African wildlife.
Dr William Fowlds - a wildlife veterinarian and the co-host of this veterinary safari - owns and runs Leeuwenbosch with this family, on the Amakhala Game Reserve. Accommodatin consists of the Country House & Shearers Lodge, one of which is your accommodation while on this 4-day African veterinary safari.
When: 7 – 10 December 2009
Where: Amakhala Game Reserve – approximately 40 minutes from Port Elizabeth Airport
Amakhala Game Reserve began in 1999 as a joint conservation venture and today has six independently owned lodges. All are owner managed by the descendants of the original families who arrived here with the British settlers of 1820.
Brothers run other veterinary safaris working with all sorts of African animals like elephant, cheetah, antelopes, etc, take a look at their website to find out more on www.brotherssafaris.com or email; info@brotherssafaris.com
You don’t have to do yoga to go on a Southern Africa Yoga Safari, but it helps.
In a hidden location amongst giant sandstone rocks on the West Coast of South Africa near Eland’s Bay, Southern African Yoga Safaris makes use of a rocky retreat for a getaway with a difference. While doing your ‘Salute to the Sun’ or Tree Posture (seen here), you stare out and may meet the eyes of some of the antelopes or zebra that live in this nature reserve. Or if you are very yogic, you may be looking inwards and finding the peace within.
These extraordinary leopard pictures were captured by photography student Casey Gutteridge at the Santago Rare Leopard Project in Hertfordshire. Copyright of http://solentnews.biz/.
Seemingly unaware of the beast, the mouse diced with death when it tucked into the leopard’s lunch. The mischievous rodent grabbed at scraps of meat thrown into the African Leopard’s enclosure.
Gutteridge said that even the keeper who’d thrown the meat into the enclosure had never seen anything like it before. The project owner Jackie James added: ‘It was so funny to see - Sheena batted the mouse a couple of times to try to get it away from her food, but the determined little thing took no notice and just carried on.’ Sheena was brought in to the Santago Rare Leopard Project from a UK zoo when she was just four months old. She is one of 14 big cats in the private collection started by Jackie’s late husband Peter in 1989.
Here’s some news about eco-friendly safari camps and ‘green’ safari lodges that go the extra mile take care of the environment:
Garonga Safari Camp
Garonga Safari Camp in the Makalali Reserve (not too far from Kruger National Park) ensures that all rubbish is separated and foodstuffs are used for warthogs and kudu in winter. They also have a water system whereby all used water is pumped into filtration pits and after 2 years is suitable for release to be drunk by animals. They have started to grow their own organic vegetable garden (baboon-proof at the moment) which will find their way onto guest’s plates at Garonga Safari Camp and supplement staff rations.
Jaci’s Safari Lodge & Jaci’s Tree Lodge, Madikwe Game Reserve
An exciting indigenous tree nursery project has been initiated by Jaci’s - by teaching the community to collect seeds and germinate indigenous trees for resale both within and outside of the Madikwe Game Reserve. This project has gained significant success and has generated valuable funds to be used within the greater scheme of the community driven waste management solution, including the benefit of planting over 300 trees in the game reserve.
Ant’s Nest & Ant’s Hill, Waterberg
The objective of the Ant Collection is to create sustainable tourism by means of conserving the environment around us, enriching the lives of our guests and staff alike as well as uplifting the community and providing as much skills development to the locals as possible
Motswari Safari Lodge, Timbavati, nr Kruger
Getting passed as a ‘Fair Trade in Tourism’ product is tangible evidence of commitment to the land and its people. It’s not an easy process, so any lodge that goes through it really wants to demonstrate fair trade practices. Motswari was particularly commended by Fair Trade in Tourism for their investments in community health and education and the maintenance of a family-friendly staff village, which is a critical strategy for combating HIV/AIDS in the game lodge industry.
If you want to know more about these places contact me at: safaritart@wydahtours.com
Lion action at Tuningi on 31 August 2009
These curious young lions and lionesses came to see the goings-on as guests from Tuningi Safari Lodge enjoyed their sundowner game drive drinks & snacks in the Madikwe Game Reserve. Madikwe Collection game rangers and guests watched from a safe distance as the lions investigated the contents of the cooler boxes.
“Evening game drives include a short stop for bushveld snacks and sundowner drinks, allowing guests to stretch their legs and, in this case, get close and personal with the ‘locals’.” - commented Grant Marcus, Senior game ranger and photographer of these pictures.
I had a great time at Tuningi, while I was writing the Exclusives Safari Lodges of South Africa book. During that visit an elephant came to drink out of the dam just a few metres from the swimming pool.
They have an excellent kids safari programme too, and a separate area for children on safari to avoid them get too noisy for other guests.
Tuningi Safari Lodge is nice an intimate with four luxury suites and a further two family cottages with two bedrooms and adjoining lounge, kitchenette and dining room. Little Tuningi is a part of the main lodge but can be booked as stand alone accommodation for those that want the place to themselves. Little Tuningi has a double room and a family unit as well as a private pool and boma (for outdoor meals around the fire).
For rates contact: safaritart@wydahtours.com.
Learn how to photograph whales, birds, fynbos, landscapes and animals at De Hoop along the Cape coastline this spring.
Wildlife photographer, Dave De Beer, is running a photographic course from 28-30 August, offering visitors a chance to learn how to capture the magnificence of De Hoop Nature Reserve in spring – which of course includes photographing whales in their ocean nursery. The course will suit beginners and/or intermediate amateurs with a DSLR camera.
Dave will be covering five subjects – whales, birds, fynbos, landscapes and animals – each of which will present a different photographic challenge and provide the opportunity to learn a wide range of skills.
Lectures and trips into the field will be interspersed with fab food and wine from what I found to be a really good restaurant at De Hoop called . Price from R850 per person per night, children under 16 stay for free and De Hoop will arrange a variety of kids activities to allow parents to focus on the course (‘scuse the pun). The weekend ends with Sunday morning brunch and awarding of prizes, which includes a stay in the Madikwe Game Reserve worth R14,000.
Email info@dehoopcollection.co.za or call (in RSA only) 0861 334667 . The offer is for a minimum 2 night stay. I loved De Hoop so much that I would thoroughly recommend a visit, especially during whale season. See what I had to say about De Hoop on this site:
